2 gunned down in Delhi street, one was witness in property dispute

The deceased, identified as Ramcharan (43) and Lakhan Lal (52), had reportedly came to Shankar Road to have tea, when three men on a black pulsar bike intercepted them. Before the duo could react, two of the men reportedly whipped out pistols and opened fire and escaped, police said.

Two labour contractors — one of who was a witness in a case pending in a Haryana court — were gunned down by three unidentified assailants on a busy street in Central Delhi’s New Rajender Nagar area on Thursday morning.

The deceased, identified as Ramcharan (43) and Lakhan Lal (52), had reportedly came to Shankar Road to have tea, when three men on a black pulsar bike intercepted them. Before the duo could react, two of the men reportedly whipped out pistols and opened fire and escaped, police said.

Eyewitnesses claimed that the assailant fired two rounds. A passerby later made a PCR call and informed the police about the two men lying in a pool of blood. While Ramcharan died on the spot, Lakhan Lal succumbed to his injuries later in the day, police said.

An eyewitness, Prahlad, said: “Three men came on a bike and stopped near Ramcharan and Lakhan Lal. Two of them riding pillion carried two pistols in their hand. They stopped the duo, pointed their pistols at them and opened fire. They fired two shots after which both Ramcharan and Lakhan Lal collapsed on the ground and the assailants sped away. There was a loud noise and many passersby gathered around the duo with one of them informing the police.”

Ramcharan was reportedly a witness in a property dispute case pending in court in Fatehgarh, Haryana, and was due to appear in court on May 22. According to his family members, he had been receiving threat calls from the opposite party asking him not to depose before the court.

“The rival party had approached him for a settlement but he refused, after which they started threatening him to not go to court. He was receiving calls but never approached the police with a complaint. We do not know who the callers were but suspect that they were from the rival party who must have hatched a plan to get him killed. The police should carry out an enquiry into the matter,” said Gopi Chand, Ram Charan’s uncle.

“They had come to kill Ramcharan. Lakhan Lal had nothing to do with the case. He was gunned down just because he happened to be with Ramcharan at that time,” he added.

Following the incident, the police registered a case of murder against unidentified assailants. “We accessed the CCTV footage from the cameras installed in the area and have also accessed the call detail records of Ramcharan. We have identified the location from where he was receiving the calls and based on the clues, have zeroed down on the assailants. They will soon be arrested,” a senior police officer said.

DCP, central, Paramaditya said: “We have registered a case of murder but the motive behind the attack is still unclear. It is a part of the investigation and will be known only after the assailants are arrested and thoroughly interrogated.”

Police said it is clear that the murder was planned and that the bikers had been following Ramcharan. They waited for him to reach a spot that was less crowded before they intercepted him and opened fire. “We have spoken to his family members and have recorded their statements based on which the investigation has started,” police said.